The parts he printed do not need to withstand high pressure so you can make them out of plastic. Barrels are very different and need to be made of high strength steel to withstand 50K psi. If you can do this with titanium you can make a fully functional firearm (or you can just buy a conventionally made steel barrel).

8
posted on 01/23/2013 12:32:43 PM PST
by Brooklyn Attitude
(Obama being re-elected is the political equivalent of OJ being found not guilty.)

Yup. It's sloppy reporting like this that gets the media and the public saying things like "The kid who shot up the school had an AR-15! That's a machine gun!! He was probably firing 300 bullets a minute!!!! We need to make AR-15s, or anything like them completely illegal! Who goes hunting with a machine gun?!"

If the public understood the reality, there would be a lot less anti-gun fervor.

15
posted on 01/23/2013 12:48:18 PM PST
by ClearCase_guy
(Nothing will change until after the war.)

I think he’s only printing certain parts as an earlier poster stated. While the technology exists to print with metals from what I’ve read it is only capable of firing a small number (I heard 6) shots before failing.

He’s not printing or using the printed uppers, that is a regular firearm. As I understand firearm laws you can make lowers and other parts all day long legally. In the case of an AR15 the upper is the regulated part which requires a firearm manufacturers license to make.

17
posted on 01/23/2013 12:49:08 PM PST
by driftdiver
(I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)

Hes not printing or using the printed uppers, that is a regular firearm. As I understand firearm laws you can make lowers and other parts all day long legally. In the case of an AR15 the upper is the regulated part which requires a firearm manufacturers license to make.

No, you've got it backwards. It's the lower receiver that is serialized and therefore, regulated.

And they're printing just the magazines. In the video, it's white, but it could certainly be printed in black.

21
posted on 01/23/2013 12:55:00 PM PST
by Ol' Dan Tucker
(People should not be afraid of the government. Government should be afraid of the people)

Print a plastic water pistol that works...This will impress me and it is doubtful it can be done at this point. Plus how strong and durable are the plastics that are printed compared to the usual injection molding

22
posted on 01/23/2013 12:56:36 PM PST
by dennisw
(The first principle is to find out who you are then you can achieve anything -- Buddhist monk)

1) This is not a machine gun. It has been illegal to manufacture machine guns for transfer to 'civilians' (non-LEO/mil) since 1986.

2) That is not even a complete AR-15. It is only the lower receiver, the part that holds the trigger and stands between the barrel/upper receiver/bolt assembly and the shoulder stock. The barrel, upper receiver, trigger group, bolt, bolt carrier, and charging handle all have to be manufactured by conventional means (milling machine).

3) On my blog, I go into the technical aspects of this: "Innovation Beats Gun Control, Every Time."

Facinating interview. Both men have a pretty good grasp of the implications of the technology. But I think they both got close to, but have missed, the wider ramifications of regulation. The true facist/communist state was impossible before the industrial revolution, because the industrial revolution collectivised and commoditized manufacturing to the point where it could be captured and regulated.

Additive manufacturing short circuits this and does an end around both big industry and big government. It puts power back into the ordinary citizen's hands in ways that it hasn't been since the industrial revolution. This is the genie that is out of the bottle.

This is not true. The additive manufacturing world is 20 years old, getting very large, and includes many different technologies.

The very cheap machines that are coming out for home use print plastic, yes. But step up a grade in quality and price, and you can buy machines that can print in metal, ceramics, sand, glass, and even wood. I don't see anything in a gun that someone could not make on a current metal printer, except maybe the spring.

No. You can print a lower receiver that can be built to be functional.

For the magazine, I’m not sure how they are doing that. Normally, you’d have a metal spring with a polymer follower. If they figured out a way to “print” a poly spring inside the body of the magazine with an integral follower, that’d be quite a trick.

Hes not printing or using the printed uppers, that is a regular firearm. As I understand firearm laws you can make lowers and other parts all day long legally. In the case of an AR15 the upper is the regulated part which requires a firearm manufacturers license to make.

Others have pointed out the lower is the firearm, but they didn't mention that you can, legally, make your own lower, for your own use, with no intent to sell (as long as ownership of said item is legal where you live). You can buy 80% lowers on-line, finish them yourself, and maintain the lower as your own, and it needs no serial number (but is recommended strictly for security purposes), doesn't have to go through an FFL, nor does it require a manufacturer's permit.

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